Eubanks loving living the tennis high-life at Wimbledon

By Will Jennings at Wimbledon

Chris Eubanks' phone won’t stop vibrating after he rolled with the Wimbledon punches to deliver another knockout blow.

The big-hitting American and world No.43, 27, continued his remarkable run by stunning fifth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas in a five-set thriller and securing a shock quarter-final spot.

Eubanks, who toppled world No.13 and British No.1 Cam Norrie in the second round last week, battled from behind to triumph 3-6 7-6(4) 3-6 6-4 6-4 and grab a second major scalp of the Championships in SW19.

The Atlanta-based ace is renowned for his power-packed, no holds barred gameplan and despite never before progressing past the second round at a Grand Slam - or competing at Wimbledon before - has proved a force to be reckoned with at the All England Club over the last seven days.

He will now meet third seed Daniil Medvedev in a hotly-anticipated last eight clash and admits it may be tough to bring himself back down after fulfilling a lifetime dream.

Hit-and-miss Eubanks, who whacked 13 aces, 53 winners but racked up 56 unforced errors on Court 2, said: “It’s going to be a little bit more difficult now just because I checked my phone – it's a bit nuts right now.

“It's crazy to see my social media feed that I'm just used to going to, seeing it's a lot of me. I'm like, What is this? This is weird.

“But I think I've been able to find a way to compartmentalise everything, realise this is a pretty big moment, but also saying, there is a tennis match that I need to play in a couple days.

“It’s a dream come true and tough to put into words.

“To be able to come out today and play the way that I did, just kind of take everything in, is surreal and I can't really describe it.

“I just think the entire experience all together has just been a whirlwind – it's been something that you dream about.

“But I think for me I didn't really know if that dream would actually come true. I'm sitting here in it now, so it's pretty cool.

“I think for today I'm going to really enjoy this – really, really enjoy it, just think back on it, realise how surreal and crazy it is.

“When tomorrow comes, it's going to be another match – it's going to be me stepping on court.

“It very well could have been first round Wimbledon, or second round.

“It just so happened that we're going to be in the quarter-finals, which is a big stage.

“At the same time when we get out there, it's still just a tennis match.

“I think at this stage of my career, I do a better job of looking at each match as a tennis match, not considering the moment as much as I used to earlier in my career.”

Hard court specialist Medvedev, the 2021 US Open champion, breezed past Czech Jiri Lehecka to navigate his way to a maiden Wimbledon quarter-final earlier in the day.

The rampant Russian led 6-4 6-2 before his lower-ranked opponent was forced to withdraw with an injury.

Medvedev, 27, has triumphed at Flushing Meadows, is a two-time Australian Open finalist and has also reached the last eight at the French Open.

But his record on grass is more patchy, a rare blot on his CV he is determined to put right in the capital this week.

Medvedev, who was forced to fight past Eubanks in a closely-contested clash at the Miami Open earlier this year, said: "I really want to do well here – I'm very motivated and very determined.

“Chris is a great player – he played great against me [in Miami] and it was a very tough match.

“I was on fire and managed to beat him, but it was a tough one.

“Here, he's on fire again – here in the quarters beating Stefanos in five sets is unbelievable.

“I know I need to be at my 100% and absolute best physically, tennis-wise, and mentally to try to beat him.”

Novak Djokovic navigated an overnight change in conditions to survive a Centre Court scare to see off Polish star and 17th seed Hubert Hurkacz.

With the record-holding 23-time Grand Slam champion 2-0 up in sets overnight, Hurkacz pulled one back the following day before the seven-time Wimbledon winner refound his fluency in the fourth to book a quarter-final date with Russian Andrey Rublev.

Djokovic, 36, said: “It was kind of two different matches: last night and today.

“It was completely different conditions – playing under the roof more humid, more slippery and obviously no wind.

“Today, it was completely different and very, very windy.

“It was a very, very close match and could have gone a different way.”

Later in the evening, top seed and world No.1 Carlow Alcaraz battled from behind to beat 2021 All England Club finalist Matteo Berrettini.

The reigning US Open champion triumphed 3-6 6-3 6-3 6-3 to set up a quarter-final clash with world No.6 Holger Rune and keep his hopes of a second Grand Slam title alive.

Alcaraz, 20, said: "I know that it was going to be really tough – Matteo is a great player and made the final here on grass.

“I'm hungry for more – it's something I really wanted.

“I came in this year with that goal - get into the quarter-final, I'm want more. I want to play the final

Rune, 20, also fought from a set down to beat Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov and set up the first ever Wimbledon quarter-final between two men under the age of 21.

And Alcaraz added: “The young guys are reaching their dreams, coming here and playing the quarter-final together - it's great for tennis.

“Playing a quarter-final against him I am going to enjoy. It's something for the fans to enjoy as well."